NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: Des Moines Wednesday, March 20, 2019 Des Moines, Iowa high. He's the jokester on the team, him and Trey. But Jazz Johnson he's overall a really fun guy to be around.

Cody Martin CALEB MARTIN: Really good dude to be around, really funny, see him on the court, get-after-it type of Caleb Martin dude and really play-angry type of guy. But off court Nevada Wolf Pack he's a good dude, man. He's one of the best teammates I could ask for and just really goofy, like THE MODERATOR: Welcome student-athletes from Jazz said, brings a good vibe, a good energy. Really Nevada Wolf Pack, Caleb Martin, Cody Martin and good dude to be around. Couldn't ask for anything Jazz Johnson. Questions for our student-athletes? better, honestly. CODY MARTIN: When he's on the court, he looks Q. For both the Martin twins, what's your first mean and aggressive, but he's a lot more outgoing memory of Jalen, and how well do you know his than people think. A lot of people don't get to see the game going into the contest? other side of him, rather than being on the court, just CALEB MARTIN: We're really close with Jalen, our first what they see on TV. He's outgoing. He's funny. Love memory is playing an AAU team loaded with him and I having him around. He's always a good time. forget exactly we met, but I just know that our coach used to call him a primadonna all the time, because he Q. Seniors, how have your past NCAA Tournament has to get going. He is at his own pace. He's a experiences, how will that help you this week and relaxed, chill dude and it would take him a few minutes to get going in the first half, but once he did he was what's it like with your last chance going around really smooth. He was dabbing lose balls and really this time? gritty, so they didn't understand how Jalen worked at CALEB MARTIN: Always being in a tournament like first. That's our guy. As soon as he saw the name pop this, it's always good to experience this no matter how up that we were playing us, he sent me emojis, me and it goes from previous times being here. It just helps Cody, and I've been talking to him throughout the year you with knowing that the main thing coming to this and that's my boy. I got a lot of love for him, but tournament is keeping your composure. You just don't whenever we play we can't be friends. know how the crowd will be or how the game will go or anything like that because everyone is playing their CODY MARTIN: Same thing, remember him from AAU, best at this time of year. You can expect guys that you feels like forever ago. He's a pro. He's got size. He's might not expect to be playing well can come out and athletic. He can really play, can shoot the ball well. I be a spark for other teams and same thing for your don't know, I think it's going to be really, really fun and team. Guys who might have had a slow start to the it's going to be really competitive and we haven't got to year could be one of the biggest factors of advancing to see him in a while. The last time we saw him was the tournament. going through the process of the NBA workouts. It's been nice to keep in touch throughout the season and It's one of those things you expect the unexpected, at we got a little text and it's going to be good to see him least try your best to and keep a level head no matter and once we get on the court all that goes out the how the game is going. window. Somebody's gotta win. CODY MARTIN: I think the biggest thing learning from Q. For Jazz and either Cody or Caleb, Jordan my past experience is don't make it bigger than it actually is and just realize that it's just another game Caroline, how is he as a teammate, to hangout and you've been playing all season. I think with, something about his personality? sometimes when you build it up in your head and you JAZZ JOHNSON: I'm really close with Jordan. He's try to play different you do things different and you goofy, an incredible teammate. He's really all about the approach it different, rather than the same thing you've team trying to make sure everybody is good, morale is been doing all season. Because at the end of the day

Rev #1 by #189 at 2019-03-20 20:12:00 GMT page 1 of 4 we're all going out there with the same teammates. new. It's basketball at the end of the day, and we just, You're playing the same steps and the same way. I you know, play like we've been playing all season and think it's having a consistent approach so you don't try just try to figure out a way to get it done. to do too much. Q. Jazz, how is it for you coming into a new I think a lot of our experience and how old are guys are program and have you been able to fill the is going to play a big part in how we do consistency- expectations that you had for yourself? wise and having that experience on our side and JAZZ JOHNSON: It's been a really fun experience, understanding that consistency is the biggest thing for honestly. I had a lot of questions coming in, obviously us and having that mindset and that approach will and you know a lot of doubts but, you know, through benefit us in the long run. working hard and staying in the gym and talking to my teammates, talking to Cody, Caleb, Jordan, guys who Q. For the twins, you are on a team with a lot of have obviously been through it. It's really just an eye transfers. You transferred yourself, a lot of opener. Especially, you know, being in a tournament experience. What's it like being on a team with so like this, I ask a lot of questions not as of recent, but much experience and so many players who came during my sit-out year and throughout the season I from other schools? would ask Cody and Caleb and JC a lot of questions CALEB MARTIN: Like you said, experience in college about the tournament, what it's like and like they were basketball is everything. I learned that quickly my saying, we do have a lot of older guys. I think the freshman year at NC State getting to play in the biggest thing is just for, you know, for the guys like me tournament, we got to go to the Sweet 16 that year, who it's our first time it's important for us to learn as too. So I got to see how much experience played a much as we can and try to get that experience through role in advancing to this type of tournament and talking to them, instead of, you know, because we winning games in general. One thing I will say for our didn't have the be opportunity to be in the tournament team even though we do have a lot of experience it's a ourselves. So a lot of it comes from being curious and lot of guys' first time in this tournament. So when it asking those hard questions in order to figure out what comes to this tournament we don't have that much it's really like. experience and things are played a little bit differently and guys on other teams play a lot better. It's one of Q. Cody, obviously this team doesn't have one big- the things we're learning on the fly. It's a lot of guys' time scorer, but six guys that score 8 points per first times here, so it's one of those things we're going game. You're the defensive anchor for this team. to have grow up and learn really quickly how things are Who is the guy that you have to stop when you going to go from the tip and you don't really have too look at the head of the snake to defend them? much time to prepare. 1CODY MARTIN: Like you said, there is not one person you can key on because at the all score the So just trying to, you know, I think our staff does a ball really well and they share the ball. They do a great job of preparing us to the best of their ability and great job of actually everyone getting a touch, they do a really great job of letting us know the realm of everyone being able to have that green light. So things, what's going to go on, and I think we will be that's what kinda makes them dangerous, so there prepared really well for it. is not one person we can key on. It's going to be a team effort on our part. It's not going to be one CODY MARTIN: I think experience is going to be really, person that we can single out and try to double really good for us. We have a lot of older guys that's team or whatever the case is. We're going to have been in a lot of games, played in a lot of games. to play and a lot of them are really great scorers and they can go one-on-one ball a lot of times. I think, you know, playing obviously in a tournament like So it's going to be our job as a group and a whole this is huge. But I think it ties back to just being to be able to help each other out at the same time. consistent and having the same approach and just Just realistically just have the same principles we understand that it's basketball at the end of the day. have had all season when it comes to playing Our team and our staff approaches every game like it's a championship. So us being in an environment like defense and they do a great job of rebounding. this, obviously there is a lot more eyes and people They're a really great team, so we're going to have watching. But at the end of the day we're playing to be prepared when it comes to their offensive basketball. It's a lot different from having a freshman game and we're going to have to have to play all who has been in there and throwing them in a fire like thirty seconds and make sure we end it with a this than older guys who have played basketball for a . long time and have a lot of games under their belt and throwing them into an environment like this it's nothing Q. Jazz, a very good defense team in Florida, top

Rev #1 by #189 at 2019-03-20 20:12:00 GMT page 2 of 4 15 in the nation. What do they do so well on that ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think Jordan is in a great spot side of the ball that has given SEC opponents from a physical standpoint. He was held out, like I troubles? said, off the Mountain West for precautionary reasons JAZZ JOHNSON: You have to credit Hayes, one of the because of the fact that he did feel like he had a top shot blockers in history, and he's down there and lingering injury. So we felt that was the best decision at they do a great job of packing the paint and to hold the time because we certainly would not have wanted teams to 63 points a game. For them to be in the SEC to come into this situation minus a player of his caliber. that's a major accomplishment. It's just really important that, you know, we key in on what we can do Not always easy decisions, but I think as a coach, as a and we figure out what we can do to score because program, you've got to make the best decision for a that's what makes them who they are. They play student-athlete and then you always think long-term defense and they make sure they crash the boards and and short-term goals and you gotta think about what's rebound and they defend at a high level. in the best interest of everybody, so that was in the best interest. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. We're pleased to welcome head coach Eric Musselman of the Q. Continuing on Jordan, what has he meant to Nevada Wolf Pack. Coach, welcome to Des Moines. your program through his career and the players were talking about how he's kind of goofy, maybe ERIC MUSSELMAN: Thank you, appreciated it. Well, keeps people loose. How important has that been? we're excited to play a 40-minute game tomorrow ERIC MUSSELMAN: Jordan is one of the first players I against a really well-coached Florida team that has a recruited the first year at Nevada. He sat out and it lot of weapons and I think our guys are in a good was a player development year. Some of the things we physical spot right now and we look forward to the talked about on his recruiting visit were, how do we challenge. improve his perimeter skills? How do we improve him as a three-point shooter? He came to us as an Q. You're undefeated in the nonconference, beat undersized five man at his prior university and this year some good teams then you go to New Mexico and he's been a small forward for us. There's not many get thumped. How did you turn that around and players in the country. Last year, 24 hours from now he what was the mindset there? was guarding Mo Bamba and fronting him at his size ERIC MUSSELMAN: Well, we did get thumped, and it and battling for rebounds, and now he's a small forward happens in . It happens in the NBA. for us. So he's made a dramatic shift in his game from It happens in the NFL. It happens in college football. a versatility standpoint as is Cody Martin. A year ago, That's the one game that we felt like, you know, we Cody Martin was our starting power forward and now weren't in the game so to speak. Our other losses we he's our are starting point guard. I'm really proud of felt like a couple missed shots, out here, we could the development that a lot of our guys have had in a have won. But that was the one game we played really very short time frame. bad. Q. Your team has had a lot of transfers. Why have I think for our guys they did a phenomenal job. There you made that a cornerstone in Nevada? was a lot of preseason hype and our guys it did an ERIC MUSSELMAN: I think, number one, it's the incredible job in nonconference. We got to conference nature of our society. My son played on about fifteen play, played in a lot of sold-out buildings. It's been a different AAU teams. Guys are unhappy with their learning experience all year for all of us because court roles. They go to a new AAU team. Guys are playing stormings has been the thing the last year and a half at three, four different high schools now. When many when we have lost. It happened last year at Wyoming of us in this room were growing up, nobody transferred and you know some of our guys, the coaching staff, it's from any college, not a student, and not student- been new to have that. But I think our guys to be 29-4. athletes. Right now there's already 320-some guys in Look everybody in college basketball has a goal. How the portal as of this morning and we're still playing do you get to the NCAA Tournament? Doesn't matter if basketball. I don't think it's just Nevada. I think you you're coaching in the Big Ten or playing in the ACC it's look at some great, historical programs that now have how do you get to this tournament. We're here and grad transfers or transfers. But we had to find a niche. we're looking forward to playing a really, really good We wanted to be as good as we could as quick as basketball team tomorrow. could but yet have sustainability. So we took kind of an NBA format. We looked at high school guys kind of as Q. Jordan Caroline was telling us he feels like a 10 draft pick and transfers as like an NBA free agent as out of 10, very fresh. How crucial were those six we tried to put the pieces together. Sometimes it gets days off for the injury he was dealing with? lost, the freshmen that we brought in because Lindsey

Rev #1 by #189 at 2019-03-20 20:12:00 GMT page 3 of 4 Drew and Cameron Oliver were part of our first class and they were freshmen and we rolled with them and played them a ton of minutes but certainly our roster is full of transfers.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks.

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